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  • Home
  • Journeys & Challenges
  • Blog
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  • Chris
    • About
    • Contact
    • In the media
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    • Support Me on Ko-fi
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    • ?

Armenia – the hardest climb

31/7/2020

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Location: Meghri
Km on the clock: 6,364
 
I already cycled for a few days constantly uphill from Tbilisi in direction Yerevan when I reached the height on which the ground was covered with frost. I got a bit nervous because obviously winter was coming and I wasn't keen to spend too many cold nights outdoor let alone get stuck in loads of snow somewhere in the Caucasus. The previous nights in my tent were already pretty chilly. Once again I was happy to have two sleeping bags but I also wore all my long clothes and at least two pairs of socks.
Approximate scrible of my route
It was easy to find camp spots along the way. On the country side I pitched my tent off the roads while I was surrounded by massive mountains which tops were covered with snow. I cooked quick and easy meals such as canned soups and had some bread on the side and then wrapped into my sleeping bags to stay warm.
After I reached an altitude of approximately 2,200 meters, the road finally went downhill which made my life easier. I rolled into Armenia's capital Yerevan, checked into a hostel and started to explore the city which is one of the oldest cities in the world. My favorite sight was the Yerevan Cascade, a giant stairway made of limestone. The view from the top is spectacular. I could see all over Yerevan but unfortunately I could only see the silhouette of Mount Ararat - the highest peak of Turkey and dormant volcano - since it was a bit misty. It's said that Noah's Arche landed on it.

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Chris Fritze (@fritzechris) am Nov 9, 2019 um 12:14 PST



I sat on the stairs in front of a historic building as a girl approached me.
"Are you here for the film festival?" she asked.
"Film festival? What film festival?" I answered.
"There's a European film festival and it starts today. The premiere starts in one hour. Do you want to come? It's for free."
"Sounds great!" I answered. "Where is it?"
She laughed. "You're sitting right in front of the entrance".
It turned out that the historic building was the Moscow Cinema.

"Are you from the press?" a lady asked as I was filming and photographing inside the building.
"No, I'm just a regular guest", I said and regretted my answer right away. I thought: I should have said yes. Just to see what happens. Nobody knows me here. I can be who and what I want. I wonder what kind of funny or weird situation I missed. Maybe I'd have gotten a better seat or would have gotten the chance to talk and shake hands with the filmmakers and officials. I'll never find out but I'll for sure say yes if I'll ever get into similar situation again. :D
Winter really started to kick in when I left Yerevan. I had an amazing view on Mount Ararat the first night outside of Yerevan but the night was freezing cold. Besides the one bottle of water which I took inside the tent, all my other water supplies were frozen the next morning. Now I knew that it was time to get out of the Caucasus region. Easier said than done. The following days I learned what it means to travel here on a bicycle.

Slowly I pushed my bicycle up the endless seeming road to Goris which was surrounded by even bigger mountains than in the north of the country. Now it was also cold during the days so that I wore even two layers of clothes while pedaling. I got invited to stay for night at a guest house in Goris for free. However, the room didn't have heating so the night in there was almost as cold as in my tent.
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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Chris Fritze (@fritzechris) am Nov 14, 2019 um 10:21 PST

I already climbed 20 of a 30 turns serpentine, as I sat totally knackered and frustrated on the side of the road. This steep road was the hardest climb that I experienced thus far - physically and mentally. I really wanted to give up and go home. A car stopped. The driver opened the window and handed me a bottle of water. In this moment I was so overwhelmed by this little gesture that I was close to tears. It took several hours until I arrived the top of the mountain and as soon as I arrived there a pick-up truck stopped in front of me. The driver got off the car. He didn't speak a single word of English but it was clear the he was asking if I'd need a lift. Since I suffered more than enough I gladly accepted the offer.

We rumbled over the forested mountain road alongside the border to Azerbaijan and as Igor maneuvered his car through the winding roads, he gave me some juicy apples and some self-made vodka. Later he even bought me pizza, lemonade and coffee in a cafe. Thank you again for everything my friend.

My last night in Armenia I stayed in a Hotel in Meghri from where I cycled the last few kilometers alongside the border fence to the Iranian border crossing. I was nervous regarding what to expect in Iran due to everything I ever heard about this country on the news but I was more excited since I always dreamed about visiting the old Persia.

If you enjoy reading this blog then please support my fundraising campaign to equip school classrooms in Darfur, Sudan. Thank you!

And if you enjoy reading it a lot, then I'd appreciate if you'd support me with a virtual cup of coffee on Ko-fi. Cheers! :)

Click here if you want to take a look at my equipment.
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VIDEO: One Year on the Road Q&A

25/7/2020

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[DE] Mittlerweile befinde ich mich seit über einem Jahr auf Fahrrad-Weltreise. Während der ersten 12 Monate dieser Reise gab es einige Fragen, die mir immer wieder gestellt wurden. In diesem Q&A-Video beantworte ich die 15 häufigsten Fragen.

  1. Warum machst du so eine lange Reise mit dem Fahrrad?
  2. Was für ein Fahrrad hast du? Und wie zufrieden bist du damit?
  3. Was hast du für Ausrüstung dabei?
  4. Wie viel wiegt dein gesamtes Gepäck?
  5. Hast du einen Tipp, was man unbedingt mitnehmen sollte und was nicht?
  6. Wie viele Kilometer fährst du pro Tag?
  7. Wie sieht deine geplante Route aus?
  8. Welche Länder hast du bisher besucht?
  9. Trackst du deine Route und kann man die gpx-Datei bekommen?
  10. Welches Land hat dir bisher am besten gefallen?
  11. Hast du gar keine Angst?
  12. Wie startet man, wenn man ebenfalls so eine lange Radreise machen will?
  13. Wie finanzierst du deine Reise?
  14. Wie viel gibst du im Monat aus?
  15. Wie bist du eigentlich krankenversichert und wenn ja, wie?
  16. Wann kommst du wieder nach Deutschland?
[EN] Meanwhile I'm traveling the world on a bicylce for more than one year. There are several questions which I was asked regularly during the first 12 months of this journey. In this Q&A video I'm answering the top 15 questions.
  1. What kind of bicycle do you've and how happy are you with it?
  2. What kind of equipment do you've?
  3. What's the total weight of your luggage?
  4. Do you've an advice what to bring on such a trip and what not?
  5. How many kilometers do you cycle per day?
  6. What's your planned route?
  7. Which countries did you visit thus far?
  8. Do you track your route and is it possible to get the gpx-file?
  9. Which country did you like most thus far?
  10. Are you not afraid?
  11. How to start if I also want to do such a long trip?
  12. How do you finance your trip?
  13. How much money do you spend per month?
  14. Are you health insured? If yes, how?
  15. When are you going to come back to Germany?

PS: The audio is in German but there are also English subtitles available.
If you enjoy watching this video then please support my fundraising campaign to equip school class rooms in Darfur, Sudan. Thank you!
 
And if you enjoy watching it a lot, then I'd appreciate if you'd support me with a virtual cup of coffee on Ko-fi. Cheers! :)

Click here if you want to take a look at my equipment.
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